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492 – SPEED: Advances in Survey Research Methodology

Calibration Weighting for Nonresponse with Proxy Frame Variables (so That Unit Nonresponse Can Be Missing Not at Random)

at RTI International

When adjusting for unit nonresponse in a survey, it is common to assume that the response/nonresponse mechanism is a function of variables known either for the entire sample before unit response or at the aggregate level for the frame or population. Often, however, some of the variables governing the response/nonresponse mechanism can only be proxied by variables on the frame while they are measured (more) accurately on the survey itself. For example, an address-based sampling frame may contain area-level estimates for the median annual income and the fraction home ownership in a Census block group, while a household's income category and ownership status are reported on the survey itself for the housing units responding to the survey. A relatively new calibration-weighting technique employed by the WTADJX procedure in SUDAAN® 11 allows a statistician to calibrate the sample using proxy variables while assuming the response/ nonresponse mechanism is a function of the analogous survey variables. We will demon-strate how this works with data from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey National Pilot, a nationally representative web-and-mail survey of U.S. households sponsored by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.